Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.

.....A peace based exclusively upon the political and economic arrangements of governments would not be a peace which could secure the unanimous, lasting and sincere support of the peoples of the world, and that the peace must therefore be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind.

In order to translate the aforementioned lofty goals into practical action, ACCU takes pride in employing a truly participatory process by which tangible and user-friendly materials are developed and disseminated as widely as possible.

More specifically, participants and representing Member States in our workshops and meetings have the opportunity to take part in projects from the initial planning stage. Under the joint production scheme, participants including experts, practitioners and policymakers alike will make a concerted effort to identify themes, strategies, processes, beneficiaries and delivery of outputs of the project through a series of discussions. We value this process immensely to help address issues such as peace, the environment and cultural diversity, and in our effort to convey the importance of providing quality education for all.

In many instances, ACCU's programmes and projects begin with materials development. Over the years, ACCU has produced and promoted educational materials including picture books, posters, and multi-media study supplements on different topics in various formats, with the cooperation of institutes and experts of countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The question remains as to how mutual understanding can be cultivated among people.

Aside from specific projects that aim to foster mutual understanding in an explicit manner, we believe that one can appreciate cultures and values of others often through engaging in discussion in search of a common goal and practical solutions, and in the process of developing materials for educational purposes and in sharing experiences of disseminating and utilizing them. By mutual understanding, it is our belief that recognizing an inevitable barrier to understanding between cultures is an important element of the objective. In other words, the process of exchanging views, facing agonies and problems, sharing dreams and hopes, and singing in chorus perhaps presents an opportunity to forge mutual understanding.

Since its inception, ACCU has valued the notion of “harmony” and “innovation in continuity”. Our hope is thus to keep tackling the critical issues of our time and beyond by placing a premium on harmony among people and also by making the effort more relevant and effective through a series of innovations.

In our mission to promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), which is sometimes viewed as a complex theory because of its comprehensive and holistic nature, our hope is to convey key messages in a clear manner corroborated by concrete outputs while valuing the process itself. ACCU will embark on the ESD programmes by drawing upon our prior experiences in Education for All (EFA) and by being mindful of the need to preserve tangible and intangible culture heritage and diversity across the Asia-Pacific region.